![]() They range from a ruined desert city to a lake surrounded by floating chains, and they all look distinct on the surface, but they're completely lacking in personality when it comes to structure. This is partly the fault of the condensed arenas where each battle is staged. One of the most effective was running around the same piece of scenery while firing off a few pot-shots once I'd built up enough distance. And even when I had to adapt my tactics for the faster-moving Cerberus and Phoenix, the AI would often fall for another cheap trick. I lost count of the times I was able to continually bombard an enemy from a safe distance with a mortar-like spell - only stopping to sacrifice a few lesser enemies to reload my stocks. The problem is that many of them look far better than they function. Each one has been animated to a pleasingly high standard and they can absorb a considerable amount of punishment before returning to their human forms. There's the Hydra that chases you down with its multiple snake heads, the Cyclops that burrows underground before impaling you with its trident and the glutinous Slime that spews an endless torrent of grizzly confetti. The enemy designs lie somewhere between Japanese folklore and Greek mythology, and while the cannon fodder is limited to demonic cats, rats, crows and spiders, the Archfiends get pride of place with around 20 nightmarish designs. They also level up the more often you use them. Archfiends you save can be used as AI partners during the side-stories. Saving also heals you slightly, but it's much more effective to simply sacrifice one of the weaker enemies before firing off a healing spell. Saving, meanwhile, is the only way to recruit an Archfiend's human form so they can aid you as an AI partner during the side-stories. Sacrificing the lesser enemies is necessary during the protracted battles, as it replenishes the number of times you can cast each spell. The twist - one that Soul Sacrifice makes a big song and dance over - is whether you choose to save or sacrifice your fallen foes. Then, as you gain more potent sorcery by completing missions and fusing your old spells together, you'll have the opportunity to summon durable golems, conjure circles of healing and even morph into a burning ball of destruction. Your repertoire starts off fairly basic, with flaming swords for close encounters, rocky shields for blocking heavy assaults and frozen projectiles that can pinpoint an enemy's weak spot. To achieve this, you can select up to six spells to take into battle. There are also 15 or so self-contained side-stories that improve the mileage considerably, and with the focus being on progressive character development - at least in a numerical sense - you can also replay any mission to grind for spells and increase your level.Įvery mission tasks you with slaying a pack of smaller enemies or one of the larger Archfiends. Finishing the main quest will take upwards of 10 hours if you keep the blinders on and remain focused. Librom's pages make up a journal of individual quests that steadily unlock as you play through them. It might be too simplistic to claim that Soul Sacrifice is monster hunting for wizards, but it's not that far off the mark. Their combined total can't be greater than 100. Saving and sacrificing increases your Life and Magic level respectively. It's just a shame the gameplay doesn't live up to the dark fantasy painted by these words. It's not the kind of story that will stay with you long after the credits have rolled, but much like the short stories in Lost Odyssey, it's handled with minimalist elegance. Soul Sacrifice has clearly been built on a modest budget and yet the simple silhouettes and sombre soliloquies help bring this grim fairytale to life. The way the story is told through the pages of Librom is one of the game's strongest suits. ![]() ![]() This allows him to slowly learn the art of casting magic spells and unravel the mystery behind the sorcerer who has imprisoned him. By reading Librom's pages he can relive the author's memories. But when a talking book named Librom appears from a pile of rubble, the slave is offered a potential lifeline. All he can do is crawl around his cell with nothing but oversized bugs to keep him company. At first, it seems like the slave's situation is pretty hopeless. The story focuses on a nameless slave who is captured and then imprisoned by a powerful sorcerer. We'd love to say that Keiji Inafune, Sony's Japan Studio and Marvelous AQL have finally cracked that code - but although Soul Sacrifice has a lot going for it, it falls into the trap of style over substance. It's been over a year since the PlayStation Vita launched, and despite some excellent games like Gravity Rush and Persona 4 Golden, it's fair to say that we're still waiting for its killer app.
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